Hong Siyu's Work Report

The three juniors returned while Larkspur and Hong Siyu the phone; by then, it had been two hours since Larkspur had said goodbye to Ink Lotus.

Although she, as the director, had temporarily left Fangting City, the work of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau in Fangting City could not be suspended. As the official secretary to the director, Hong Siyu naturally took on some of the director's work. Larkspur did not want to be a hands-off manager and leave all the responsibilities to Hong Siyu, so the two needed to have a special phone call to discuss the work of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau.

The call was scheduled for once a week. Hong Siyu would report on the recent work progress of various departments of the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau, financial expenditures, meetings and discussions with other government departments, instructions and documents from the General Bureau, the handling of reports from the public, and the overall security situation in Fangting City. Larkspur, on the other hand, would need to provide feedback on each item, including the various applications she had remotely approved that day, and the content of her personal communications with other leaders of the municipal government departments, so that Hong Siyu would know what work needed to be done next.

With so much content, it was impossible to finish explaining it in two hours, so Larkspur and Hong Siyu were still having a heated discussion until the younger generation returned.

"Let me summarize for you. Around the middle of last year, the city government and the then-Secret Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau routinely applied to host this year's statewide exchange seminar. Usually, these things are unpredictable, but then Fangting City thwarted the plots of the Black Ash Dawn and Claw Mark criminal organizations for three consecutive months, and the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau also accomplished the astonishing feat of going from complete destruction to perfect reconstruction in four months. So, Heavenly City really did choose Fangting City as the venue this time... Are you sure?"

Larkspur repeated what Hong Siyu had said earlier, her fingers tapping lightly on the side of her phone. "It sounds like some crude joke she made up while I was away."

"Haha... I almost wish this were a joke."

On the phone, Hong Siyu's voice also carried a hint of helplessness. "The junior director who came to deliver the documents from the municipal government knew nothing about them. I even called their leader to confirm, and it really was approved by Heavenly City."

"Is there an electronic version?" Larkspur continued to ask.

"Yes," Hong Siyu said, then sent a file to Larkspur via chat software.

Larkspur opened the file, silently clicking on several marked documents to verify the content, official seals, and signatures before speaking with a slight frown:

"When is the meeting?"

"In May, we have about three months to prepare," Hong Siyu replied quickly.

"The timeframe was too tight, why was it only approved now?"

"Because it was originally scheduled for August of last year, and at that time it was scheduled for Linyang City."

"Linyang City ..." Larkspur understood now.

This is because it was another unfortunate city attacked by the Black Ash Dawn at the end of last year.

Throughout the year 1999 of the Queen's Calendar, in addition to the small city clusters including Fangting and Bai'an, three larger cities worldwide became the targets of the Black Ash Dawn. These three cities were Taiyu in Donghua Prefecture, and New Covenant in Xiluo Prefecture. Compared to Fangting, where Larkspur was located, these three cities did not have any top-tier magical girls stationed there, so they all suffered heavy losses.

In Linyang City, buildings in two urban districts were completely destroyed, and the number of casualties was in the five or even six figures. Even part of the City Barrier Network was damaged, and repairs are still underway. Under such heavy damage, their Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau was naturally in no better shape. If the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau in Fangting City was reduced to ruins during the Full Moon Festival, then the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau in Linyang City was razed to the ground.

With things escalating to this point, Linyang City was naturally unable to host any more seminars. The hosting rights circulated among the leaders of Heavenly City, eventually "benefiting" Fang Ting.

"Does the municipal government have any candidate venues?" Having figured this out, Larkspur knew this was a troublesome matter she couldn't avoid, but that's how work is; it can't just stay away from you because you don't want to do it. "Even if each city only sends three to five representatives from the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau across the entire Eastern Hua Prefecture, the number gathered at Fangting would be enormous; a typical venue wouldn't be able to accommodate them all."

"They want to locate it at the Green Tower..."

"The Green Tower?" This was the Larkspur's muttering to itself after receiving the answer.

--"What Green Tower?"

This was another voice that suddenly appeared behind the Larkspur, at some unknown time.

Larkspur turned around and saw Lin Xiaolu leaning against the back of the sofa behind her, looking curious. "Is that Hong Siyu over there? What are you two talking about?"

"... Interrupting someone's phone call is not polite, White Rose."

Believing that the topic they were discussing wasn't anything shady, Larkspur remained calm. "Besides, I've told you many times to use code names."

"... Haha, it's alright."

Hong Siyu on the phone clearly didn't care about Lin Xiaolu's way of addressing her anymore. "Are you still in the hotel? No one else should be able to hear you."

"If you don't develop good habits in ordinary times, you'll falter when you really need to."

Larkspur was clearly not as forgiving Hong Siyu. She reached out and patted Lin Xiaolu's arm, which had somehow wrapped around her neck. "So don't even think about using your charm to get away with this. Be serious."

"Hehe, sorry."

But Lin Xiaolu was clearly in a good mood and showed no sign of being discouraged by Larkspur's few words. Instead, she reached out from behind the sofa and hugged Larkspur, her tone quite sweet. "Please forgive me, Larkspur."

"... What exactly did the three of you go out to do?" Having gotten goosebumps from Lin Xiaolu's affected, coquettish voice, Larkspur finally shifted her attention from the phone and looked at the other two with a somewhat dumbfounded expression.

"Haha, well..." Xia Liang scratched her face and looked away.

"Going out to play!" Bai Jingxuan said, making exaggerated, unintelligible gestures.

Because of this commotion, Larkspur and Hong Siyu's phone call naturally couldn't continue, so the two could only arrange a time for their next call, and then Larkspur would inquire about the cause and effect of the matter.

From Xia Liang's obviously concealed answer and Bai Jingxuan's consistently fragmented summary, Larkspur tentatively understood why Lin Xiaolu was now clinging to her like an octopus:

They participated in a dessert tasting event in the shopping street. When tasting the chocolates, one of them used alcoholic syrup as a filling. Because it tasted really good, everyone tried it, but Lin Xiaolu, before even knowing that the chocolates were filled with liqueur, had already devoured several in no time...

"So that's why she's like this now?" Larkspur asked helplessly, pushing Lin Xiaolu's cheek, which was almost pressed against hers.

Xia Liang remained silent except for an awkward laugh, while Bai Jingxuan, though looking at Lin Xiaolu with a hint of envy, surprisingly did nothing. These unusual reactions further convinced Larkspur of her judgment:

--These girls must have, absolutely must have, done something behind my back.